


The taste of infinity

by Lyrae



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Dammit Jim, Fae & Fairies, Fae Magic, Fae freeform, Fae! Mycroft, Fae! Sherlock, Faeries Made Them Do It, Jim Has Issues, Jim is a Little Shit, Jim-centric, Kid Jim, Kid Sherlock Holmes, M/M, Moriarty - Freeform, Mycroft Being a Good Brother, POV Jim Moriarty, POV Mycroft Holmes, POV Sherlock Holmes, Protective Mycroft, Sherlock Being Sherlock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24343975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrae/pseuds/Lyrae
Summary: Jim ran in the forest to escape Carl Powers, fell down a tree and was saved by a small fae with wild curls and gemstone eyes."You owe me. " it said, and so Jim followed it into its realm, shedding his humanity on the forest's ground.
Relationships: Mycroft Holmes & Jim Moriarty, Mycroft Holmes & Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes & James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes & Jim Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes/James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty
Comments: 23
Kudos: 17





	1. Tumbling down the rabbit hole

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lortan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lortan/gifts).



> So...  
> Hmm...  
> Here's another long fic? This one is not a Jimcroft but Mycroft will still be quite important!  
> Oh, and yeah, fae AU, this is extremely Free-form, I either completely abuse Google search or just completely make up things but I hope it'll still be a good read! 
> 
> And if you like faeries, check Lortan's fanfictions! She's really awesome and the imagery she uses is absolutely breathtaking :)
> 
> P. S. This is not beta-ed so all of the mistakes are purely mine! 
> 
> P. P. S. This is not finished yet but I have more than 20k already written so the updates shouldn't be too sporadic.

' _RUN_ ' screamed a voice inside his head, and Jim found himself obeying, dashing as fast as he could in an effort to put some distance between him and his pursuers. 

Carl wasn't amused, and when he was angry, things tended to go badly for the smaller boy. 

Usually, he would have just climbed into one of the tall trees near the school, using his small stature and lithe frame to reach higher branches, waiting among the leaves and the birds until the sun set and his classmates finally got bored. Time tended to pass quickly when he was there, reading about astronomy and imagining how the stars would look in the sky above. 

This time though, Carl had made sure some other boys were near the trees and had immediately started following him when the class had ended. 

Jim knew what getting caught by the other boy would mean : getting beat up until he was covered in bruises, having his stuff destroyed and thown around, and if he was unlucky, ending up with a broken bone like that one time.

Since the smaller boy has managed to evade him by climbing and waiting, Powers had seemed to lose interest in his favorite punching ball, ignoring him even when they were in school, but after a few months, he had finally understood that if Jim couldn't reach the trees, he wouldn't be able to escape... 

No child would be either brave enough or foolish enough to run in the dark, haunted forest near the school right? 

James Moriarty was neither overly brave nor foolish, but no monsters lurking behind the foliage could be worse than the ones currently following him. 

So what if he got kidnapped by the faeries and was never found again? At least, he wouldn't have to stare at Carl's pudgy face and muddy eyes any longer, wouldn't have to get kicked by those stupid shoes. 

So he ran, without stopping, without looking back, letting himself be swallowed by the forest, hearing the twigs snap under the other boy's feet. 

He would have liked to just climb into it the first tree he encountered like he always did, but Carl was so close that he knew he would just get thrown down on the ground before he could reach the first branches if he tried. 

Breathing was getting harder and harder as seconds went by, his heart hammering in his chest, painfully ordering him to stop, and yet the taller boy didn't seem to slow down. 

If anything, he only got closer, until he was almost breathing down his neck, his hand just a few millimeters away from his shirt. 

Jim was a slightly bit faster, his smaller frame giving him an advantage in the woods, enabling him to jump between the trunks and avoid the low branches, however, Carl was more athletic and had a lot more stamina, slowly managing to close the gap between them as time passed. 

Hearing the other on his tail, he couldn't resist the urge to look behind him in order to check his position, and that little moment of inattention was enough to make him miss the large roots littering the floor, half hidden beneath the fallen leaves. 

Jim yelped as he was sent flying, losing his footing and falling down nearby hill.

Steep was an euphemism went it came to the state of the slope and the boy went rolling down at full speed, trying to stifle screams of pain when he connected with a bough, the smaller branches scraping his face and leaving deeper gashes on his arms and his legs. 

Nothing seemed to slow his descent and his battered body only stopped when he was at the very lowest point, literally unable to fall any longer. 

  
  


\----------

  
  


When Jim opened his eyes again, dizzy, it was as dark as it had been before, the trees completely stopping the light, but if his watch was to be believed, only a few minutes had passed. 

He squinted, fighting to see past the blurrry fog encompassing his vision. 

  
  


_'Yes, only a few minutes...'_

Since he hadn't had the luxury to check the time when he had been running, it must mean that he hadn't been out for too long right? 

' _Which clock hand was supposed to represents the minutes already...? The long one right? '_

  
  


He had hit his head before finally stopping so it was possible that he would end up with a concussion... 

What had that medical book said already? Being out less than 30 seconds was generally fine right? 

He tried to remember but that only made the ringing in his ears intensify, the dizziness getting harder to fight. 

Oh _._

Maybe he wasn't that fine. 

  
  


Jim forced himself to get up, immediately leaning on a tree when the swaying got too hard to manage, looking around in an effort to find where he was. 

Children weren't allowed in the forest so he had never been here before, and even if nothing kept adults from coming, most preferred to stay safely in the fields, as far away from the dark woods as they could. 

_Did that mean no one would find him?_

_Carl would tell them where he had fallen right?_

  
  


The boy tried to look up the slope, wondering if it would be possible to climb back up, but he had to immediately abandon the idea. 

It was already a miracle that he had survived the fall seeing how steep it was... 

He couldn't even determine how high it was since his vision was stopped the foliage, but seeing as he had rolled down for what had seemed to be an eternity, there was no way he would be able to go back the same way in the state he was in. 

Though he couldn't see his face, he knew that he must be quite the sight as he could feel blood dribbling down various shallow gashes, but it was his limbs that had borne the brunt of the damage. 

Being mostly unprotected by his clothing, it was clear that his arms and his legs had experienced everything the forest had to offer. 

He would be able to ignore most of the wounds for now since they didn't look that bad, but his main problem when it came to finding his way back home was his right ankle. 

Seeing how much it had swollen in such a short amount of time, he must have at least sprained it and Jim really didn't want to walk on it for too long in order to find out just how bad it was. 

_Maybe lying there and sleeping would be for the best..._

Someone would find him at some point right? They wouldn't just leave him here to die, would they? 

His headache was getting pretty bad, as was his dizziness, and he just wanted to lie down on the moss and forget the pain...

_No_! 

He couldn't, if he let himself drift right now, there was no telling he would ever wake up! 

And what if there were dangerous animals lurking in the woods? What if they were only waiting for him to finally stop moving? 

_H_ e _needed to get away._

Jim glanced around, desperately looking for something, anything that would help him, but there were only trees, trees everywhere, blocking the sunlight, blocking everything, trees-

_Of course!_

_Why hadn't he thought about that earlier?_

_He could just climb up!_

  
  


He would be safe from the animals and hopefully, if he could reach high enough, he would be able to see above the canopy and find his way back. 

Climbing with a twisted ankle was certainly not an experience he would want to replicate, ever, and he wasn't even mentioning the wounds on his limbs and the scratches on his hands, but ultimately, James Moriarty reached the summit... 

Only to come face to face with a dark-haired boy hanging upside down from a branche, looking at him with curious eyes. 

Jim yelped in surprise and tried to jump away, immediately noticing that it certainly wasn't a good decision to make when one was precariously holding on a tree, meters away from the ground. 

The last sensible thoughts he had before terror overtook his mind was that the other had really pretty eyes, otherworldly even, and that the way they had widened in surprise when he had fallen had made them look even more vibrant in the light. 

  
  


\----------

  
  


_He has seen eyes like those once before, during a quiet afternoon a few years ago._

_His mother had still been alive at that time, but that didn't mean he had wanted to spend even a second in the dark house, filled with a silence only broken by the clattering sound of the woman's bracelets when she cooked..._

_It wasn't even like she was often there, his father kept her in the basement most of the time, her milky skin only kissed by the sun when she had to make the meals, new silvery scars appearing on her arms every-day and still seeming like they had marred them for years._

_She was nice, she didn't speak a lot but when she did, it was always to say something kind, her melodious voice leaving words like flower wreaths on her son's head._

_It was too bad that her mind stayed in the basement most of the time when she climbed up those stairs, attached to her husband arm like he was her only lifeline, and the man always smiled, sweet in a way that felt like drowning in honey, before brushing a kiss on her forehead and leaving her in the kitchen._

_After the meal, he would grab her by the wrist, in a grip that might have seemed gentle if the traces left on her skin by the bracelets weren't visible, and brought her down once more, coming back up alone-_

His thoughts fizzled out at the edges of his mind, memories disappearing into the void only to be replaced by others. 

Oh. 

Yes 

_The eyes._

_It had been a quiet afternoon, in the middle of summer, and even if the weather had been quite good previously, it had suddenly started pouring, people running into the library where Jim was hidden in an effort to protect their clothes._

_From where the child had been, half hidden beneath the main staircase, he could clearly see everyone entering the building, dashing inside completely soaked, still clad in their summer clothing, cursing the weather._

_That man however... He had been different._

_He had walked inside, looking around as if wondering why everyone had seemed to hurry so much, and if his surprise hadn't been strange enough, he had been wearing a three piece suit like the sun hadn't been blazing high in the sky a few minutes before._

_What was even stranger though, was that he had been completely dry._

_No water droplets dribbling down his face, no wet spot on his jacket, not even a hint of mud on his pristine black shoes._

_Jim wasn't stupid, he knew umbrellas existed, but he also knew the bottom of his trousers and his shoes should still have been touched by the rain, and it wasn't like the man was actually carrying one-_

_The oddity glanced up and stared directly into his soul, his clear eyes catching a light that wasn't even there in the first place and reflecting it infinitely._

_The younger lost himself in the gemstone orbs, floating, drifting, until he heard a chuckle echoe directly into his head, making him snap out of his trance._

_When he focused, once more looking down, he saw the man pat his soaked trousers, wipe a bit of mud off his shoes with a handkerchief while holding his umbrella under his arm._

Impossible. 

It was simply impossible. 

_He remembered everything, recalled every details of the impossibility's appearance, he knew the other hadn't been carrying an umbrella hadn't been soaked, hadn't needed to tidy his ruffled hair._

_Jim didn't scream, didn't say anything, but he ran away under the pouring rain, ran even as he was completely soaked, ran until he was hiding behind his cupboard, shivering as he remembered the amusement hidden beneath the ice._

_He asked the librarian afterwards, asked not if he has seen the same things as he didn't want to voice his observations, but he asked for a name, for an identity._

" _Mycroft Holmes. " the old man had said "He leaves in the manor, you know, the one in the middle of the woods. "_

There was more about the man in his mind, more data, more information-

Or was there? 

_A smile, a warm hand on his shoulder-_

The rest of the memories here lost in the void. 

\----------

  
  


Sherlock, son of the faerie Queen, brother of the future faerie King, Sherlock, forever young, forever a child, roaming the forest of the human realm. 

Mycroft had decided to let his appearance change as humans' did, growing older and older as years passed, having crafted illusions and glamours around the entrance of their kingdom until it looked like an old Manor hidden in the middle of the forest, but the younger stayed as he always had, glancing distastefully at the suits his brother wore. 

The older said it was to learn how to fit in with the mortals, said that it would be useful to understand them during his rule, but Sherlock just despised the way he let his features change with the years. 

_What was the use anyway? It wasn't like they would have noticed an additional oddity!_

None of the town people remembered ever seeing the Manor before, and yet, they had accepted its existence as easily as if it had always stood there, simply adding its mystery to their legends and superstitions about the woods.

_At least, that was what the older had told him..._

Sherlock always stayed hidden deep inside the forest, observing the humans' habitations from the summit of his favorite birch tree, sometimes seeing a small figure high up in a sapling near one of the big buildings, staying there until the sun was down. 

_Could he see the fae looking at him?_

Probably not, it would be impossible to discern a child hidden among the foliage unless he had fairies' eyes, but it was a funny thought to entertain. 

_What could bring a mortal child so high in the sky? Was he afraid of what lurked below, of the creatures he called kin?_

The fae remembered when they had lived in another forest, when humans had looked the same but spoken differently, sometimes, children would play into the woods and get lost, only getting deeper and deeper as they tried to find their way back home. 

_Some said they weren't lost in the first place, that they had ran and never wanted to go back._

Sherlock had helped them when he encountered them, he hadn't spoken with them, even though he listened to their tales, just pointed at the direction, but that had been enough to make himself known as a child protector. 

' _Ghillie Dhu_ ' they had called him, the dark-haired lad, and as far as he had been concerned, this was as good as anything else. 

Mycroft hadn't been happy about the fact that he was known by mortals, and if it was possible, his mother had been even less pleased, immediately ordering them to leave that forest and settle in another or to come back to the faeries' realm forever. 

_Maybe it was because of what he had done to the family of the runaway children but he doubted it, neither Mycroft nor Mummy would have cared about that._

It wasn't like leaving had been particularly problematic, every tree was linked back to the faerie realm after all so it was quite easy to travel from one to another by using the mushroom rings, but he had liked the old woods, always crossed by families and children. 

If his brother was to be believed, this forest had been in Scotland, and the one they were now inhabiting was in Ireland. 

Unlike the previous one, almost no one ever entered the woods to take a walk or simply play, it was too dark, too eerie, the thick foliage hiding most of the sunlight even on the middle of the day, and Sherlock was _bored_. 

Before, he could observe the mortals closely, examine their clothes, the way they spoke, how they acted with others, but now, he could only observe them from afar, see the minuscule silhouettes and imagine what they were talking about... 

He loved the faerie realm, of course he did, but dancing without a partner got tiring in the end and the human world had been the only spot of vibrant colours on the grayscale pircture of his life. 

So that was why, when he had heard and seen those two boys run into the forest, he had immediately been interested. 

The fae couldn't recognise the pursuer but the one running away had been strangely familiar... 

_Oh_.

It was _that_ boy wasn't it? 

_The one that always hid in that sapling!_

Sherlock had jumped from one branch to another, following them from above, thanking his keen eyesight and his small stature for making this even easier. 

Boy number two, aka the pursuer, had seemed ready to catch up with the other when said child had stumbled on a root and went flying directly down _that_ hill-

_Ouch._

He lost sight of the dark-haired boy for a bit, but hearing the sounds of the impact and his yelps, the whole fall must have been quite painful. 

When he arrived down, after a few minutes of jumping around, he saw him lying on the moss, blood dribbling from most of his body, including his head but he didn't come any closer, simply observing from afar. 

After the previous incidents, he had decided that he wouldn't help the next lost person he found... He didn't mind being scolded by Mycroft but his mother, with her sharp teeth and sharper words, was someone he couldn't help but fear. 

So he stayed put, wondering why he took so long to move again, reassuring himself by looking at the slow rise and fall of his chest. 

_He would be fine, wouldn't he?_

Ultimately, the child woke up, looked around with unseeing eyes for an instant, standing up only to stagger and lean on a tree. 

_Alright, maybe he wouldn't be that fine._

Sherlock was hesitating, wondering whether or not he should just show himself and point towards his village like he usually did, but the boy took him aback when he started climbing up with his twisted ankle. 

It couldn't be pleasant, yet he didn't stop, holling himself upwards, grabbing branches after branches with nimble movements until he was almost at the summit. 

If he had stopped to think about it, the fae might have realised that dropping his head right in front of the other might not have been the best idea, but the mischief in his blood had just been too strong, urging him to grin and hang upside-down. 

A scream of surprise, the child trying to jump away and realising only too late that it probably wasn't the best idea seeing how high he was, the fall and then the landing. 

_Crack_

Oh no. 


	2. Gemstone eyes and colourful butterflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim takes the proverbial devil's hand before it is even offered

In a second, Sherlock had slid down his tree, trying to assess the damages, the butterflies usually hiding in his hair fluttering around his head or landing on the boy's bloody skin. 

The other had already been pretty battered before the second fall and when he had landed, he had instinctively put his hands out in a futile effort to stop his fall... 

Seeing as both his wrists had broken on impact and that he had still managed to hit his head hard enough to get knocked out cold, it really hadn't been an effective method, but the fae was too concerned to criticize right now. 

Mycroft would be angry if he saw him like this, he always said that caring wasn't an advantage after all and that was especially true when it came to humans, but Sherlock had always been closer to the poor, pitiful creatures...

_ And now one was going to die because of him.  _

The faerie bit his lips, his sharp teeth digging into the soft flesh until liquified magic was running down his chin, dribbling on the ground. 

The child was pale, unnaturally so, more than he had been a few minutes before, and it was only getting worse, his health deteriorating with each second. 

_ He didn't have time.  _

Even his magic wouldn't be able to save him now, the boy was too close to death, so close that the fae could already see his vibrant soul trying to leave its mortal shell, starting to tear into its crumbling envelope... 

Mycroft would be mad, Mummy even more, but he had no other choice. 

He bit himself again, this time insisting until his mouth was filled with the luminous liquid a mortal would have called blood, and them bent down, pressing their lips together, passing the concentrated magic to the human boy. 

  
  


\----------

  
  


Jim opened his eyes, feeling strangely refreshed, vaguely remembering luminescent eyes and soft lips touching his own, and looked around only to jump away in fright when he saw the boy from before kneeling right next to him. 

_ It hadn't been a dream then? But why didn't he hurt then?  _

He remembered pain exploding in his wrists accompanied with a sickening crack, yet now they looked completely fine, the pale skin unblemished, his clothes were still in tatters but there was no trace of his previous injuries and even his head wasn't hurting anymore...

Turning back towards the boy, all of the questions he had in mind suddenly died on his tongue when he looked at him,  _ really _ looked at him. 

If one was gazing from afar, not really observing that was, only seeing the outer shell and not everything else, then this boy would be like any other. 

If one actually had eyes though, they would easily notice all of the disparities, how his skin was just a little bit too pale, the diaphanous expanse barely covering the veins and the bones, his cheekbones too sharp, cutting through air and light, his hair too wild, filled with butterflies and wildflowers. 

But his eyes... Even without talking about the rest, of the way his dark locks defied gravity, of the costume of moss and leaves he wore, his eyes betrayed his nature all on their own.

They were clear, luminous, green mixing with gold and clashing against blue, the hues shifting to form a different pattern every time the light hit them, gleaming in all the wrong ways. 

Jim's stare must have been quite obvious because the other, the creature wearing a child's skin, laughed, his mouth opening to show pointy teeth and a crimson tongue, wind chimes-like giggles echoing in the forest.

"You seem better. "

" _Don't ever say thank you to a fae! " his mother had exclaimed years ago, looking strangely vehement "You'll either insult them or admit that you owe them a debt and really, one is as bad as the other. "_

"I do feel better. " 

The small boy winced inwardly at the rudeness of his statement, wondering how the other would react. 

The fae didn't seem particularly insulted but the curiosity etched on his face had somehow increased. 

"I am Sherlock-" he said, and Jim knew before the name left his lips that he wouldn't get the full one. Names had power after all, that was why- "Can I have your name? " _ he had to be careful.  _

A knowing smile, a pair of black eyes sharpening ever so slightly. 

"You can call me Jim. "

Once again, the creature laughed, reality splintering and shattering into thousands of shimmering fragments, shards made of impossible reflects and crystalline echoes. 

"I saved you before, I am not going to steal your skin or kill you now, that would be a waste of power and time. "

_ 'You owe me. _ ' he meant, and who would kill someone who owed them something before they repaid it? 

Jim was young but he certainly wasn't stupid, and if he had remembered something from his mother's tales, it had been that you should  _ never _ owe a faerie anything.

"You're the one that made me fall in the first place, I would have been fine without you so it's only normal that you fixed your error after almost killing me. "

In a flash, the other boy was right in front of him, his gemstone eyes sharpening in anger, his face twisted in a feral snarl as sharp teeth poked out of his scarlet lips.

"You would  _ NOT _ have been fine! Even if you had taken the fastest way to your village, the concussion would have killed you before you even managed to take a step out of the forest!" the fae hissed furiously, fire dancing in the multicolor orbs.

Seeing as his outburst hadn't garnered the reaction he had wanted, he sighed, the unrest settling ever so slightly. 

"I am not usually counting debts, but do not try to say that your survival would have been guaranteed without me, you owe me your life."

I...  _ Own _ ... You

Jim nodded with a smile, surprising the creature. 

"Then I will stay with you until that debt is settled. "

  
  


\-------------

  
  


_ What? ' _

"You do know that there is no telling whether or not you will ever leave the faerie realm if you stay here right? "

The small boy,  _ Jim _ , only nodded again, and Sherlock understood.

_H_ e _had nothing to lose, had he?_

He was just like the children he had found eons ego in that Scottish forest. 

Mycroft wouldn't be happy, that was a fact he could foretell, but it wasn't the first time humans had stayed among them anyway... 

And things had started to become horribly boring these days, surely his brother wouldn't opposed to the idea if he knew right? 

He glanced again at the child, hesitating. 

Objectively speaking, he knew that he should just show him the way out of the woods and wash his hands off him, but he had been the one to offer himself, and he did seem to know the basics of faeries etiquette... 

It wasn't like time passed the same way in the humans' world and in theirs anyway, he could spend months with the boy if he wanted and bring him back here as if only a few seconds had passed. 

Sherlock smiled, slightly too wide, slightly too sharp, the corners of his mouth reaching just a little bit too far to seem human, showing far too much teeth than it was anatomically possible. 

Jim didn't seem unsettled, on the contrary, he even grinned back at him, probably already imagining the words that would come next. 

"Alright. "

The faerie held out his hand and the human child took it, one second they were standing in the small clearing and the next they had disappeared from the face of Earth. 

  
  


\-------------

  
  


_ The faery realm was strangely similar to the human one. _

That was the first thing Jim thought when he staggered into another clearing, but he noticed quickly enough just how wrong that assessment had been.

Sure, they were still surrounded by trees, but it was the only thing that hadn't changed, and even they weren't the same, with unbelievably large trunks, rising from the ground directly towards the stars, vibrant leaves fluttering in the air.

Some seemed pretty normal at first, in various shades of green, but they were so much more luminous, the colors so much more vibrant than anything found on Earth, that Jim thought for a second he had hit his head again and was dreaming.

The moss looked so soft, so plushy and so fresh that he couldn't stop himself from taking off his shoes and walking barefoot like Sherlock did.

"Where are we going? " he asked after a few minutes, looking around in awe.

"Chhhhh." Was the only answer he got, the fae placing a finger in front of his mouth.

_ What- _

And then a new voice echoed just behind them. 

"Hello brother dear, would you mind telling me who is your new friend and where you found him? He just looks awfully human so I am quite curious as to where you found such a strange fae."

Both boys jolted, startled, before whipping around to face their interlocutor.

Tall, stern face, clear eyes and slicked back hair, the man from the library, the man from the manor.

_ He was Sherlock's brother?  _

"Oh, Mr Moriarty, I hadn't recognized you from behind I'm afraid. " he said with a pleasant smile before turning to his brother, all warmth disappearing from his face. "Now Sherlock, I know that the boy is smart for a mortal, but why is he here? "

_ And just how did he know that? _

The other fae squirmed, actually squirmed, under his brother's icy stare.

"He got injured and lost, I saved him so he owed me. "

"...and you thought it would be a good idea to bring him here? "

' _Why_ ? ' he seemed ready to scream, his whole demeanor displaying his annoyance. 

"I was bored alright? Are you happy now?! I brought him here now anyway, it's too late for him to leave! "

The older faery raised his hand, light flowing between the long fingers, all pointing towards Jim's forehead.

"We both know it's not, he wouldn't even remember the whole encounter... "

"NO! " Sherlock screamed, jumping in front of the child "Don't you dare put your magic in his brain Mycroft! You'll just turn him into another one of your goldfishes! "

_ Mycroft _ , as he was apparently called, only sighed, making the light disappear and massaging his eyebrows as if he was starting to get a bad migraine. 

"I can assure you that his brain wouldn't be affected in the slightest… And you, of all people, should know what happens to humans who stay here for too long brother mine... Be careful. "

The younger still looked defiant, a snarl twisting his features.

"It won't happen again."

Jim watched the exchange, feeling lost and just the slightest bit concerned, but the next instant Sherlock's hand was in his and all of his worries flew away.

  
  


\------------

"C'mon, hurry up, everyone is going to want to meet you! It's not everyday that we have newcomers! "

It had been an eternity since any human had been allowed here after the  _ incident,  _ and to say that the others would be curious was the understatement of the century - if not more. 

"Where are we going anyway? " Jim asked, following the other as they walked between gigantic roots and humongous trunks, grazing colourful leaves and intricate bark. "Are you bringing me to some kind of Court or whatever?"

Sherlock stopped suddenly, blinking in puzzlement. 

"No of course not, why would I? I'm not bringing you to anyone in particular, you just got here anyway, I'm bringing you to where you'll stay! " he grinned, jewel eyes shining beneath dark lashes "It would have been for the best if no one had known you were there, not even Mycroft, but now that he is aware of your presence, I'm sure he will tell the others so it's no use hiding ourselves. "

Walking became a bit harder as the slope became steeper and steeper, the young boy being forced to hold trees in an effort to continue while the fae barely seemed to notice the change, his feet only grazing the ground. He could have probably been flying around at this point, this would have been a lot quicker, but apparently, the Prince wanted to make him feel like he belonged… 

How considerate. 

Panting heavily, he still managed to ask the question currently bothering him. 

"Why didn't you want them to know about me? "

The fae bristled, flying higher for a second before letting his feet rest on the ground once more.

"They are not very attuned to humans, they don't understand how they work or their limits, so don't go with them when I'm not there, they could force you to dance for laughs, forget you are mortal and only realise their mistake once you are bleeding out from the stumps of what used to be your feet. "

_ Oh.  _

_ That was very reassuring.  _

Sherlock seemed to understand his thoughts and he shook his head, a grin plastered on his face once again. 

"Don't worry about it, I won't let you out of my sight and even if I did, they know better than to touch what's mine without my permission. "

What's mine? 

Jim tensed yet stayed silent, biting his tongue in an effort to keep his mouth shut. 

He had accepted to come with the fae, happy to escape Carl and whatever he was leaving behind, but now, the debt he owned was fastening itself like a collar around his throat, squeezing, suffocating him-

"Are you alright? You became pale for a second, is your head still hurting? " the fae stopped again, flying around him, his voice filled with concern. 

He didn't even realise what he had just said, did he? What he had implied? 

Or maybe he did but he just didn't feel like it was a big deal to own a human. 

He saw him as his like one would own a toy or-

"You need to tell me if you are unwell alright? I didn't save you to see you die! "

Or maybe he didn't mean anything with his words, maybe it was just his way to say that he cared about that little mortal that he had picked up, maybe 'what's mine' was the synonym for 'acquaintance ' in the fae realm. 

He just couldn't know so it was no use mulling over the words. 

Jim breathed in, out, idly trying to discern the different smells hanging in the air before smiling back. 

"I'm fine, don't worry. "

They continued walking for a while, seemingly crossing the whole forest before coming to a stop in front of gigantic birch tree with roots the size of small buildings and a trunk stretching infinitely towards the skies above. 

"Now you can stop hiding but don't bother him alright? " Sherlock suddenly said, his teeth bared in displeasure, placing himself in front of the mortal. 

Jim was about to ask who he was speaking to when he saw forms move between the trees, strange shapes contrasting against the bark, messes of teeth, claws and feathers, creatures of moss, diaphanes and flowers, slowly approaching, flying, walking or even crawling. 

He shuddered and stepped back, the cold wood against his back grounding him as much as it stopped his escape. 

Still, they continued to close in, curiosity flashing in cerulean gazes and crimson pupils, thousands of hungry eyes fixated right on him, taking in everything, every single one of his reactions, seemingly trying to catch his very essence with their stares. 

_ 'Human. '  _ he heard, repeated over and over again like a mantra, hissed in sibilant whispers or in low purrs, the word passing from one mouth to another, from a forked tongue to a soft, pink lips. 

' _ Human. ' _

"I told you not to bother him, what do you think you're doing right now? "

Sherlock didn't seem happy, his feet had definitely left the ground now and his whole being had gained a sharpness he had lacked before. 

"We are only watching my Prince, nothing more, we don't get to see humans very often around here. " said a tiny fae sporting more eyes than a human could possibly count on their orange fur, every single one of their pupils not leaving Jim for an instant even as they spoke. 

It felt uncomfortable in a way nothing had before, like the creature could see all of his flaws with one glance, could break down the apparent perfection of his thought process with a word. 

"You knew he would be unsettled by your appearance, he just got here, you could have left him longer to get used to our world. "

Jim couldn't see it from where he stood but he could practically hear the glare in Sherlock's voice, see the snarl twisting his features. 

"Why would we have waited? He won't stay long, will he? We did not want to miss him-"

"He  _ will  _ stay with me for a while, he owes me a debt. "

Neither the orange fae nor the others seemed even remotely pleased by their Prince's answer, their faces displaying various states of displeasure. 

"Our Queen won't be happy. "

"I am sure  _ my Mother  _ will perfectly understand, unlike you. "

"We only want the best for you my Prince, and so does our Queen. You must remember what happened the  _ last time.  _ "

If anger had filled Sherlock's voice before, it was now tightly laced with barely concealed fury, a hiss ripping through his throat, low and dangerous. 

"Leave. " he whispered, venom dripping from his bared teeth, permeating his words so vividly that Jim wouldn't have been surprised to see the liquid dribble down his chin. "Leave and don't show your face here again unless you want me to rip it off and glue it on a tree. "

The orange faerie bristled, their thousand eyes sharpening in defiance so much that they looked like they might talk back, but they ultimately bowed, displaying what would have been a neck if it wasn't covered by multi-coloured orbs. 

"If that is what you wish my Prince. " they only said before flying away, their small form soon followed by the swarm of faes. 

Soon enough, it was just the two of them standing beneath the shade of the gigantic birch tree. 

_ 'What was that all about? '  _ Jim wished he could ask, because he knew something was going on, _of course he knew_ , there was no way he would have missed the multiple mentions of ' _ that incident',  _ but seeing as Sherlock was still shaking in barely repressed rage, he was also aware that he would get no answers from the other. 

"So, didn't you want to show me where I would be staying? " he asked instead, placing himself in front of the fae, his face only displaying curiosity. 

It took a second for Sherlock to fully calm down, for the storm to clear in his eyes, but once he did, it was like the previous confrontation had never happened.

"You're going to love it! " he chirped excitedly, climbing up the tree with the graceful ease of one who had done that all their life, Jim following as quickly as he could, gears churning in his mind as he reached higher and higher. 

Yes. 

If he wanted to know what that was all about, he would have to make his own researches, ask others once the Prince left… 

If he wanted to know, he would have to get away from Sherlock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all liked this chapter :D


	3. Curiosity tastes like chocolate bars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Humans should be fed often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's with the title?  
> *shrugs*  
> Your guess is as good as mine.

Jim discovered quickly that getting away from Sherlock was a lot easier said than done. 

After climbing for a few minutes, the boy ignoring the ache in his fingers and his bare feet as best as he could, they finally reached whatever the fae had wanted to show him. 

_ "You're going to love it! "  _ he had said, and now Jim understood why. 

Sherlock's home -because surely it could only be that- wasn't in fact a home at all, meaning that it had no walls except for the tree's foliage and no roof if one excluded the stars, but it was mix of silken fabrics and big pillows thrown haphazardly between the branches, binding a few together to create something akin to a bird's nest. 

Just standing in the middle of it all, the child couldn't help but wonder where he had gotten all of the silk littering the ground. 

Sure, some sported weird colours and alien symbols so Jim had no trouble believing they might have been made by the faes themselves, but others just had this 'human touch', this little  _ something  _ that screamed of mortality when put next to the rest, that minuscule hint of despair lacing the embroidery. 

Had they been given by worshipers over the years or had the faeries stolen the fabrics, their eyes called by the vibrant colours? 

Both, neither, he couldn't know and he wasn't about to ask. 

"This is where you'll stay! "

For a second, Jim hoped that it meant he would be alone in the cocoon but Sherlock tore through his wishes as he corrected his own words with a too wide grin. 

"Where  _ we'll  _ stay I mean, that's my nest you could say, I built it myself and brought all of my favorite things here! " the fae seemed so excited, so proud, that Jim could do nothing but smile back, hiding his disappointment in some dark corner of his mind. 

"It's a beautiful home, it must have taken a lot of effort to build though right? And all of the silk seems to be high-quality too… "

Sherlock could have almost seemed like a normal child, enthusiastic about something they had created on their own, if it wasn't for the way his eyes shone, reality splintering on his cheekbones, tearing apart when it grazed a lock of his dark hair, and fragmenting into the light gems. 

"It didn't take that long to build it but the process of finding all of the fabrics was a bit longer, I only took the best of the best after all, but it was still easy enough since the forest we were in was often crossed by some King's servants! " 

Did that mean he had made a deal with them to get their possessions or had he simply stolen their treasure chests, used tricks and magic to distract them before taking the precious clothes? 

Jim didn't dare to ask and Sherlock provided no additional information. 

"You must be tired right?" The fae smiled and something the mortal boy couldn't comprehend flashing across his face "Sleep for a bit, we have all the time in the world now.

_ All the time in the world.  _

Jim hoped Sherlock hadn't seen his shudder and couldn't hear the way his heart thumped violently in his ribcage. 

If he did, the other didn't comment on it, he simply took his hand and lead him to a pile of plushy pillows, pushing him down before falling weightlessly at his side, intertwining his thin limbs with the child's scrawny ones, keeping his grip on Jim's hand and bringing their bodies together until there was no telling where the fae ended and where the mortal begun. 

During the whole process, said mortal stayed completely still, forcing his mind to focus on something else than Sherlock's closeness, but his thoughts always traveled back to that in the end, and he wondered whether or not the things uncomfortably digging into his soft flesh were really bones or if the claws sinking into his hands, holding him in place even as he had made no move to escape, would leave bloody gashes once they were taken away. 

_ Would he even let him go afterwards?  _

The fae didn't move, the sound of his soft breath, of wind passing through leaves and somehow of stars shining against blue canva, being the only things breaking the silence, and so Jim slowly opened his eyes, hoping he would manage to detangle their limbs a bit now that the other was sleeping-

Except he wasn't, Sherlock was everything but _asleep_. 

"Humans need sleep right? " he asked quietly, gigantic, painfully vibrant, eyes fixed on him. 

Jim froze, trying to push back the fear that threatened to swallow him when he realised that-

"Why, do faes don't need any sleep? "

It wasn't like it had been a threat, or anything really, but the reality of his situation was slowly sinking in.

Was offering his company to pay his debt really a good idea? 

He hadn't thought he owed Sherlock that much, sure, the Prince had saved him, but he had been the one to injure him in the first place, so surely he wouldn't stay here for a long time right? A couple of days, a few weeks at most, and then he would be dumped back with the ordinary people. 

_Why did his throat tighten when he imagined leaving? Why did he have trouble breathing when he thought about saying goodbye to Sherlock, a boy he had just met, for the last time?_

Right now, he had no reason to flee, but he realised more and more that even if he  _ wanted  _ to run, there was no telling that he would even be able to escape. 

The Prince moved ever so slightly in a gesture that might have been a shrug if he wasn't half intertwined with the human right now. 

"Not really? It passes time and make things quiet though, so many rest every now and then… but anyway, I remember that humans do need sleep to function, so why aren't you asleep? Is something wrong? " Sherlock asked, his brows furrowed in nervousness and concern. 

Was he really using his sad puppy face because Jim hadn't been sleeping? 

The human grinned, trying to placate the other. 

"No no, don't worry, everything is fine, it's just that sometimes we take a while to fall asleep but there's nothing wrong with that! "

His face brightening in an instant, colourful butterflies coming out from nowhere and landing on his curls or on his rosy cheeks, the Prince stared at him from beneath his lowered eyelashes, a low purr forming in his throat and rumbling out of his lips. 

"I'm glad you're fine then. "

Jim didn't say anything, tightly closing his eyes in an effort to forget his current situation, to make the feeling of Sherlock's body against his go away… and yet another part of him revealed in it all, wanted to take the fae's hands and dance amongst fireflies, wanted to bring the being even closer and carve his smell into every corner of his mind. 

One part of him was euphoric, wanted to throw away everything, all the concerns and the fears, and simply give himself up to the embrace, sink into the bony limbs and become one with the sharp angles, because finally, for the first time of his life, he was  _ free _ , free like a bird born in a small cage and suddenly thrust into aviary where neither Carl Powers nor his father mattered, free like a thrall stepping out of his slave ship for the first time after months of travel to be showed to his new master, free like a man without shackles locked in a windowless cell. 

It was a ridiculously small freedom, but it was freedom nonetheless and Jim wasn't sure he would trade the human world for the faeries' realm if he was given the choice, trade scorn for sharp smile, snide comments for intertwined fingers… 

No, it was a lie. 

That small part of him, hidden beneath layers of fear and suspicion, was certain that he would choose to stay here no matter the consequences, there was nothing humanity could offer him that the faes didn't already have. 

That didn't mean he would stop his researches, that didn't mean staying was tantamount to ignorance, but he wouldn't look for a way to escape, only for  _ answers.  _

Jim fell asleep at some point, the thoughts and the half made plans twirling inside his brain replaced by soft hands stroking his hair and luminous eyes where oceans melted into galaxies before colliding with the forests of the faes' realm. 

  
  


\-----------

  
  


Sherlock watched the breath of the small child even out, listened to his rabbit heartbeat slow until it was beating peacefully inside his chest, a bird simply existing from behind bars of bones. 

He had been a bit worried when the moral had stiffened in his embrace, when his thoughts had become so erratic that the fae had been able to see them flicker beneath his closed eyelids, but everything was well now. 

Jim snuggled into his chest, dark strands of hair tickling the fae's face, and Sherlock grinned happily. 

_ Yes, everything was well.  _

He hadn't planned on bringing the boy back to the faeries' realm with him, but he had been the one to offer his company as a payment, hadn't he? 

And Mycroft hadn't been happy but he hardly was these days-

_ Except that was a lie wasn't it? He had seemed a lot more cheerful lately, after coming back from the human world…  _

-so it wasn't that important. 

He would get over it, as would the other faes, his mother would still be displeased but with time, her annoyance would fade and Jim would be completely accepted here, accepted as the Prince's human companion, accepted as Sherlock's playmate, accepted as  _ his.  _

The child moved slightly in his sleep, mumbling something nonsensical about gemstone eyes before falling silent again, seemingly lost in another dream. 

Yes, everyone would accept the human boy like  _ He  _ had never been, Sherlock vowed it. 

\-----------

How had he managed to tangle himself in the sheets that much? Something slightly pointy was digging into his muscles and he scowled. Had he forgotten to remove his books before falling asleep again? 

His eyes staying firmly closed in an effort to keep the last strands of sleep, Jim tried to bat away whatever was keeping him glued to his warm pillow, struggling with the sheets. 

He would have continued thinking he was still at home, in his own bed, if his hands had been able to move away in the first place. 

_ What- _

Oh. 

Everything came back at once, Carl running after him, his fall, the strange child hanging from the tree, the fae Prince and his brother. 

He had no dog, no Toto to confess to, but he had a feeling he wasn't in Kansas anymore. 

Jim forced his eyes open, coming face to face with Sherlock.

"Did you sleep well? " the fae asked with a small grin, his grip getting just a little bit tighter. 

Smiling back, ignoring the way their palms were sealed together, the boy replied. 

"It was okay yes, perfectly fine. "

For some reason, his stomach decided it would be a good moment to loudly grumble, making its needs known. 

Sherlock's eyes immediately shone and he let go of Jim to jump on his feet, ladybugs and butterfly fluttering around his head when the fast movement tore them away from his dark locks. 

"Oh yes, of course, you must be hungry! "

_ "And remember Jim, everything I told you is important, but the one thing you should never do is eat anything offered to you by faery, do you hear me? " his mother had said in one of her moment of relative sanity, her eyes veiled by something he couldn't quite recognise "You are a very special child darling, you know it right? Humans might not be able to see it but faes do, I do, and when they notice it, they will offer you the most scrumptious feast in order to tie you down to their realm. You have to promise me Jim, that no matter how hungry you are, you won't ever bite anything given to you by a fae, you won't even eat a berry while in their kingdom, because the moment you do, you will be lost to the human world. " _

Jim had nodded, promised while fully convinced that he would never have any reason to break that promise, but here he was now, hungry and stranded in the faeries' realm. 

There was no telling for how long he would stay here, but surely it wouldn't be that long… He wasn't sure when the lack of food would become a problem, he was already thin and had the appetite of an old world sparrow so the hunger shouldn't hinder him too quickly, but that also meant that he had no fat reserves and that he would become pretty weak at some point. 

"Wait, I'm going to bring you something to eat! " the fae warbled, and the other had to physically grab his hand in order to stop him. 

"I'm not hungry! My stomach just made some random noise but it's just a human thing, don't worry about it. " 

His reassurance didn't seem to work and the fae's brows furrowed. 

"Are you sure? Humans always make that noise when they need to eat… I'll bring something, it'll take me a minute! "

Before Jim could even muster another excuse, Sherlock was gone, disappearing somewhere in the foliage. 

_ That wasn't good.  _

He knew that he couldn't eat anything unless he wanted to recreate the Persephone scenario in worse and be forced to eat the faeries' food for the rest of eternity, but would he be able to resist the pull? 

Caressing the bark of one of the branches idly, he tore away a leaf, observing it critically. 

What was considered food anyway? The vegetation here might be venomous, but if it wasn't, would he be able to eat it without any consequences? What about the berries? Sure, they were a food item but they grew in nature didn't they? They weren't made directly by the faes after all, yet his mother had told him to avoid them too...

And what about their blood then? Would drinking Sherlock's tie him to the other forever? 

Panic seeped into his bones and he just stood there, completely silent and immobile, gears churning inside his brain, trying to find a solution. 

The next second, the stillness was broken and Jim was desperately patting the pockets of his shorts, searching, and then-

_ Yes!  _

He took out the chocolate bar, wincing when he saw its half smashed state. 

At least the plastic didn't seem to be open but with his luck, the whole thing would be melted beyond recognition. 

But that wasn't really important, was it? 

With just one bite, he would know whether or not Sherlock's blood had damned him and it would lessen his hunger ever so slightly. 

Yes. 

Just one bite. 

He couldn't take more than that. 

Jim tore the plastic packaging, happy to see the chocolate didn't look that bad, and sank his teeth into the bar. 

Immediately, his tongue was met by the familiar sweetness and he grinned, relieved, the chocolate melting in his mouth, before closing the plastic as well as he could and hiding the rest in his shorts.

He thought he was ready for whatever the Prince would bring back, thought he had cleverly avoided the trap by eating a bit-

He hadn't. 

Sherlock was back a few seconds later, bringing a tray of small pastries, and Jim's mind became blank the second the smell touched his nostrils.

It was perfect, simply perfect, heaven turned into food, and they looked so small, so unassuming, exactly like the honey pastries his mother used to make, and before he even realised what he was doing, he was stepping forward, reaching out-

And then he difficulty snapped back to reality, the thoughts of his mother bringing back memories of her warnings. 

"Thank you for bringing them Sherlock but I'm really not hungry… I can't tell you when I need to eat something if you want? Some humans eat often but I've always had a very small appetite. " Jim explained, only half lying. 

The other seemed surprised and disappointed, but his frown was quickly replaced by a radiant beam. 

"Now that's settled, we can go explore ! I have so many things to show you, you'll love it! '

Forcing his eyes away from the familiar looking pastries, Jim smiled back, already imagining how he might get away from Sherlock depending what he showed him. 

"I'm sure I will! "

  
  
  


\-----------

They ran around the whole day, climbing higher and higher in the trees until they reached the canopy, sitting cross-legged at the summit in order to watch the stars, lying together under the infinite sky

When Jim woke up the next morning, they visited some waterfalls and swam into the clear water until the sun set, swallowed by the surface of the lake. 

The day following that one, they played inside large caves lit by strange mushrooms and colourful gems, crawling inside narrow tunnels to find rooms covered by clear crystals. 

Everyday, for a week, Sherlock showed him something new, dragging him along his adventures, not letting him out of his sight for more than a minute. 

Everyday, the fae would bring him things to eat, delicate pastries and beautiful berries, cakes covered with cream and an array of delicious looking dishes. 

The chocolate bar hadn't lasted very long unfortunately, and drinking water helped, of course it did, but a small child, however how scrawny, wasn't supposed to go without any food for days… and he certainly shouldn't be running around with his half-starved body that much but Sherlock would notice something was amiss if Jim refused to partake in their daily activities. 

At least he has managed to avoid fai ting by eating a small bite everytime his vision started to darken around the edges, but now he wouldn't even be able to do that anymore. 

The Prince had noticed he was getting thinner and thinner with each passing day but the boy had somehow managed to convince him that it was normal for happy humans to lose weight? 

Jim wasn't sure how he had convinced the other when the fae had already brought a human back here… 

Or maybe it was all a misunderstanding? 

Sherlock was almost ridiculously gullible when it came to mortals it seemed, he wouldn't be that ignorant if he had known a human before, would he? 

The faes had seemed to imply that but Jim didn't know the whole story so maybe he just wasn't getting something, because the other wouldn't have forgotten everything he knew about mortals already right? 

At least it played in his favour, Sherlock believed whatever lies he told him about his appetite without asking too many questions and just went along with it, apparently happy to just show him around and enjoy his company. 

Right now, they were in a tree, not too far from their neat, exchanging fairy tales from their different perspectives. A lot were completely different but some were relatively similar, the faeries keeping the more bloody version quite often unlike the humans, and they were chatting about the two versions of Rapunzel, with the blinded Prince and the witch wasting away in her tower, when suddenly Sherlock whipped around and  _ screeched _ . 

If someone had screamed in his ears without indicating beforehands that they would do so, the boy would have been surprised but that surprise would have been quickly batted away by the rage of being so rudely interrupted, however the fae didn't simply  _ scream _ . 

A scream implied that it sounded remotely human, or even vaguely animalistic, that it went through the throat, past the vocal cords, and then flew out of the opened lips, so no, Sherlock didn't scream, bo scream could ever sound like that, but he let out an ear-piercing shriek. 

Sherlock screeched and the deafening noise rippled through the air, shattering reality and leaving a crumbling universe in its wake. 

Sherlock screeched and Jim yelped, the surprise and the pain radiating from his very being after the sound waves crossed his mortal vessel enough to make him let go of the branches he was currently holding. 

Eyes widened in horror, the only thing passing through his mind was the thought that the Prince would never let him hear the end of it if he had to save him with his blood. 

_ Again.  _

Jim fell, the wind passing through his hair, desperately fighting against gravity, until he wasn't falling anymore, until he was held against a warm chest by two strong arms, until his eyes met a pair of light gemstones. 

"James. " his saviour said softly, as if he was greeting him - he probably was considering the situation - and the terror suddenly left his body, the tension ebbing away until he was almost melting from contentment, peace filling every single one of his bones. 

The boy sighed, and his eyes having closed on their own accord, he didn't notice the fae's glowing orbs, the strange thing fluttering in his gaze, widening his pupils impossibly…

He didn't notice but Sherlock did. 

"Let him go Mycroft. " he growled, almost threatening, now floating in front of his brother. 

"What, and let him fall to his death? " 

The older examined him carefully, his fingers caressing the now jutting bones of his shoulder blades, trailing across his ribs for a second before letting him down on a sturdy branch. 

"You are the one who almost killed him with your dreadful scream brother dear… And we need to talk."

Sherlock glowered, but his brother's small nod towards the child made him change his mind. 

The younger Prince turned to his still dazed friend, checking whether or not he was hurt before saying :

"Stay here alright, we'll be in the nest, it won't take long. "

Mycroft didn't seem happy with the last remark but he said nothing, smiling pleasantly until Jim hesitantly grinned back. 

The next second, the two beings were gone and he was alone in the forest, standing in the tree-

Wait 

He was  _ alone.  _

There was literally no one monitoring him right now. 

Sherlock did leave him alone when he left to fetch the food, but he somehow always came back after a minute... Now though... 

There was no telling how long the conversation would take.

_ It was now or never, wasn't it?  _

Jim grinned, sliding down the smooth bark of the tree. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you gift something twice? I'm not sure but if that's possible, then I give this to the awesome Lortan, may your birth be wonderful and filled with magic! 
> 
> I would have preferred to gift you the next chapter as, like no one in particular said, "drama is coming", but well, timing and all that y'know... Still hope you liked it!


	4. Follow the moths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brothers talk, Jim meets a fae and follows the moths to find the answers to his questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jim really should be more careful...

That boy shouldn't be there. 

That boy  _ shouldn't be there _ . 

It wasn't like Mycroft disliked Jim or thought he wasn't special enough to fit in, because he  _ was  _ special, and that was the whole problem. 

He was just too unique, he had been among the humans and his uniqueness had been normal, but that difference was even more glaring now that he was in the faeries' realm. 

James Moriarty had shone brightly in a world full of darkness, but now that he was surrounded by light, now that he had others like him, now that he had Sherlock, he only burnt brighter, hotter, always hotter, and Mycroft knew this couldn't last indefinitely… 

The boy was still a human after all, even if the aging process had stopped, his mind was built for finality, for the end of Death, and so it churned never endingly, as if he was running out of time when he now literally had all the time in the world.

It just couldn't  _ last _ . 

Not like had and Sherlock would at least. 

Maybe Jim would hold out for a few decades, a few centuries even, but in the end? Something was bound to happen. 

Something  _ bad.  _

Normally, he, as the faes' Crown Prince, couldn't have cared less about a measly human, sure, his brother would he upset if something happened to his new project but it wouldn't be the end of the world, just another experience in their endless lives, a pebble tossed in a stream. 

James Moriarty,  _ 'Jim' the boy had always insisted, even in the human world,  _ shouldn't have mattered, shouldn't have meant anything to him, but for some reason, he did. 

_ It had been a rainy day, people had been running for no reason - or for shelter as he had later understood, mortals didn't like to get wet involuntary apparently- and Mycroft had simply followed them, entering the old library in their wake. He had looked around, all seeing eyes sweeping across the room before falling on dark ones widened in surprise, and he had seen him, he had seen everything there was to see about the boy while still needing more.  _

Maybe he should never have gone into the human world in the first place, maybe Sherlock should have been forbidden to enter that forest too, maybe they should have stayed deep inside their own realm and never meant any mortal in the first place. 

They hadn't though, the incident had happened, Mycroft had cowardly left afterwards, not wanting to deal with his brother when he had needed him the most which had effectively strained their relationship beyond repair, and they had both met one James Moriarty. 

_ Nearly black eyes, big, downturned, and a dark mop of hair, the child was small, scrawny, the appearance of a boy anyone would overlook, anyone would forget… _

_ But his mind, oh his mind, it had been an oasis in the middle of a desert, the stained glass adorning a bleak cathedral, a peerless diamond of a brain hidden amongst the dull coal of mortality.  _

_ Mycroft had seen this mind, seen the fear and the observations, seen the unease and the creeping suspicions, and he had known, known more than he had known anything before, that he needed to own that child.  _

Sherlock had never been meant to meet the other, Jim was supposed to be  _ his,  _ his to observe, his to use, his to take, he might not remember it, but he was. 

But-

His brother was happy, wasn't he? 

It was the first time Mycroft saw him this lively after  _ that,  _ so he couldn't just grab the mortal and wipe his memories like he had wanted to. 

_ He always did it after their encounters, crawled inside the child's brain, practically purring when he felt his warm, soft consciousness pointlessly struggle against his power, and devoured parts of his mind, shuddering in pleasure when he lived the memories through the other's perspective.  _

_ Humans' fear was always delicious, but usually, the mortals didn't even realise that they should be afraid of him…  _

_ Jim did, oh he did, not at first of course, not anymore, thanks to him Mycroft had gotten a lot better at hiding his true nature after all, but he always figured it out in the end, and that moment of realisation, that second of pure unadulterated terror, was the most delectable treat he had ever tasted.  _

_ He realised at some point that it was becoming an addiction, that Mummy would scream if she knew and that the rest of the faeries would riot, but he just couldn't stop- _

Yet he would, he would because now Jim was Sherlock's and he wouldn't take away something of his brother, no matter how much he desired it. 

But it wasn't that bad, was it? The child didn't remember any of the previous events and Mycroft had always enjoyed his company anyway, it wasn't like he had only used him to feed on his fear. 

_ Sometimes, he didn't even wait until the boy understood what he was to wipe his memories, they just spent an afternoon discussing constellations around a cup of tea and he would simply eat the sweet things in Jim's mind before setting him free, leaving the quiet contentment untouched.  _

He had come to visit the two boys after the first week, hoping he would manage to get a little taste of the child's mind, and then Sherlock had apparently decided to help him in his endeavour by scaring his little friend to Alpha centauri and back. 

Really, at this point he was only making Jim a favour by devouring his terror, and he had seemed happy afterwards hadn't he? Perhaps a bit dazed, but content, and Mycroft would have smiled if his hands hadn't been able to feel every bones of the boy's body while rescuing him. 

_ Hadn't his brother fed him?  _

"We need to talk. " he said once the pleasantries were over, nodding towards Jim when he saw Sherlock was about to refuse. That little gesture seemed to be enough and the younger begrudgingly accepted, asking his friend to stay where he was before allowing him inside his nest. 

Oh-

It really hadn't changed in the slightest, had it? 

The last time he had been there was after  _ his  _ death, he had come to comfort Sherlock but hadn't dared to enter, staying in the air above for a few minutes before leaving… 

And now, except for the placement of some of the pillows, it was exactly the same, so much that Mycroft didn't doubt he would find  _ his  _ silken clothes in the chestnut chest half hidden beneath the foliage. 

Forcefully forcing his mind away from the memories, he focused back on the present, back on Sherlock, back on the matter at hand.

"Brother dear, you do remember humans need sustenance to survive right? " he asked pleasantly, already expecting the reaction would have at his words, and here it was, the snarl, the anger-

The concern? 

"He told me he just didn't have a very big appetite. " 

Mycroft pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. 

He really had deleted everything hadn't he? 

"And just what food did you offer him? Only ours I take it? "

His question seemed to surprise the younger, his head tilting in puzzlement. 

"Well, of course. "

_ Oh Sherlock…  _

"And you do remember that he would he forced to eat our food forever if he ever tasted it right? "

"Yes? That's the whole point? "

Another sigh, Mycroft wishing his brother had accompanied him to the human world, had gained a bit more insight on them before picking a -  _ his - _ mortal pet. 

"James might not want to be stuck in our world brother mine, he is still young, intelligent, and he obviously knows a bit about us, he knows what the food would do to him and so he avoided it and told you he simply wasn't hungry, but I can assure you that no healthy human is this thin, the poor boy just seems about to faint. "

Sherlock bit his lips, absent-mindedly licking the blood that leaked out of the small wound, his face twisted in a mix of anger and sadness. 

"He lied to me? "

Shaking his head, the other stepped forwards and took his brother's chin in his right hand, forcing the smaller to look at him. 

"If he had told you the truth, would you accepted to find him human food- " Sherlock stayed silent, the coldness of the tone seeping into his hollow bones "or would you have held him down as you forcefully shoved pastries inside his throat? "

The silence was more telling than any word. 

"That's what I thought. " Mycroft merely said, shaking his head in disappointment "Don't you dare hold his own fear against him or I will bring him back to his world before you can utter an excuse, do you understand? " 

Sherlock nodded, strangely subdued. 

"And I will bring him human food myself, you deleted too much, I don't trust you not to poison him unintentionally. "

_ That,  _ however, made him react. 

"You will  _ not  _ go anywhere near him  _ ever again!  _ You just want to make him afraid and siphon his terror right out of him! "

Mycroft smiled humorlessly, two pairs of nearly identical gemstone eyes meeting defiantly. 

"And you don't? "

  
  


\-----------

  
  


Once he was safely on the forest ground, Jim started walking away, weaving between low branches and treacherous roots. 

Saying that he knew the faeries' realm would be a lie, an enormous one at that, he had no idea what the rest of their world, outside these woods mainly inhabited by Sherlock, was like, but he did know the nest's surroundings, and right now that would be enough. 

Or at least, it would have been if he had any idea what he was looking for. 

He wanted to talk to another fae in the hope that they would tell him more the  _ incident  _ everyone kept mentioning, but would they even accept to broach the subject ? And what if they wanted something in exchange? 

The only thing he had left was in own person and Sherlock seemed to have laid a claim on even that...

Shaking his head, the child continued to advance, hoping he would find someone, anyone, willing to answer his questions. 

The faes tended to stay hidden, very well hidden if he was to be honest, since the Prince always chased them away when he noticed them, but Jim had still been fully convinced on various occasion that he had managed to spot a flash of orange fur, of dark eyes observing him from the shadows-

_ Yes ! _

Here they were. 

Since he, a human child, was now alone, without Sherlock's protection, they had apparently decided that they didn't need to continue hiding and Jim was certainly not going to complain about that. 

Pushing down the urge to start the conversation with the standard 'excuse me' -  _ "Never apologize to a fae unless you don't have any other option, you would be admitting that you owe them a debt. " his mother had said, and Jim was planning on following her advices  _ \- he stepped closer, refusing to let the thousand eyes intimidate him. 

"I would like to talk and I think you do to. "

If the being was surprised by his cheek, nothing showed it on his body and they continued to hover above him, looking down on the mortal. 

"Talk about what exactly? " they asked, amusement seeping into their voice. 

"The incident, whatever that was… It happened with another human right? I want to know more and you want me to leave, so go on, scare me away from your world. "

The fae seemed to study his offer - which wasn't much of an offer anyway, he wouldn't get much in return apart from the child's departure if he was sufficiently cowed - but they ultimately shook their head.

"It's not my place to tell you about that-" Jim was ready to object but they just continued "-but I might know someone who will tell you everything about it… You just need to follow the moths, they'll lead you to that person. "

He didn't thank the fae but he nodded, allowing his face to convey his gratefulness when his words couldn't. 

"Alright. " was the only word Jim uttered before looking around, waiting until he spotted a few moths before letting them lead him to his soon-to-be informant. 

\-----------

  
  


His walking quickly turned into a light jog when he realised Sherlock and Mycroft soon notice his absence now, before becoming full blown sprinting a few seconds later. 

The adrenaline kept him away from his growing, hunger-induced lethargy thankfully, and Jim simply focused on avoiding the branches and the roots as he ran, pushing any thoughts of what the two others would do out of his mind. 

They probably wouldn't be very happy he had left while they were talking, but it wasn't like they had left him any other options… They knew he was smart, knew he would crave answers at some point, they should have anticipated his next actions. 

Sinking deeper and deeper into the woods as he followed the moths, Jim ended up entering a cave like the ones he had explored with Sherlock, only deeper, darker, the lack of light making the bugs harder to spot. 

Sometimes he simply heard a flutter of  _ something,  _ sometimes he could have sworn wings has brushed past his cheeks, sometimes there was nothing at all and just the feeling that he was heading the right way, following some kind of silent call…

Still, he somehow managed to keep advancing, only slightly scraping his hands and his legs against the salient rocks, stumbling every now and then on some jutting stalagmites, until he was  _ there _ . 

_There_ didn't even feel like a place, not really, much like Sherlock's messy nest - _and Mycroft's cold cold cold Manor,_ a little voice supplied _-_ it didn't feel like a home at all, yet it could only be one. 

Dead flowers lying on the grounds, almost completely covering the stones, sharp thorns mixed among transparent crystals, bones of things he couldn't recognise lying on dark silk. 

There was an opening in the rock ceiling, allowing the tiniest sunray to light the room, revealing what seemed to be a girl sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room, presenting her left profile to the world, and Jim couldn't help but step closer, mesmerised by the way the sun caught in her raven locks before splintering on her pale face, only stopping when he couldn't approach more, when something -  _ bars,  _ supplied his mind _ \-  _ stopped him. 

Well, not bars, not really, they certainly served that purpose but it looked like the whole room was encompassed in an enormous ribcage, bones too big and sturdy for a creature of the human world separating him from the girl. 

"Hello? " Jim asked softly, feeling like an heretic for breaking the silence and bothering the ethereal beauty. "Another fae told me you would be able to give me some information on Sherlock. "

The faerie's lips twisted upwards but she didn't move from her position, still completely focused on the stone wall. 

"Really, you want to talk about Sherlock ?"

Her eye, the only one he could see from his position, turned to stare at him.

"You're his new human pet aren't you? " she said more than she asked, amusement clear in her gaze "You look nothing like  _ him _ , why would he pick you ? "

Again with the mention of that other human… the other faes hadn't lied then. 

Jim bristled at the question, but he didn't let it intimidate him.

"Who was Sherlock's former pet? " he asked, doing his best not to fidget when the girl's grin widened. 

"Oh, he was a very pretty thing, much more prettier than you, a little Prince with fluffy hair and baby blue eyes. Sherlock had the habit of stealing things from the people crossing our forests, silk, gold, little trinket, but to his eyes, that boy was shinier than any gem so he stole him away and brought him to our world... " 

A pretty Prince ? She had every reason to wonder, hadn't she? 

Why would the faerie save him and accept his company when he already had that other, better boy? Someone with the same status, someone he had known for years? 

Why did he pick another 'human pet' unless-

"What happened to him? "

Dread settled in his chest, pressing on his heart and his windpipe. 

The girl's face fell and she continued talking, almost as if she hadn't heard Jim's question. 

"Sherlock loved him but he was so, so annoying, nothing more than a dumb cry baby always running after him and taking my place… " she grinned again, but this time, there was something deeply unsettling with her expression "I warned him you know, told him to stay away from my brother and just go back to his own world, but he was such a stupid, stupid child… "

' _ My brother? ' _

She sighed in mock sadness-

"So I killed him. "

-and she turned around. 

She turned around and the rest of her face became visible, the charred, melted flesh rotting away, the empty, so  _ empty,  _ eye socket, the moths flying away to reveal the maggots proliferating in the remains of her skull, she turned around and the smile she had sported was now a twisted grimace showing bones and decomposing muscles. 

Fear was a funny thing because on its first stage, it started a fight or flight response, but when it turned into pure, unaldurated terror, the kind you felt you caught sight of Death and saw her grinning back at you, it just caused you to freeze up and go silent. 

At least it did that in Jim. 

The child stared at the undead creature, his breath coming in and out in sharp gasps, unable to speak, unable to think, because he just couldn't  _ breathe  _ and he was  _ choking  _ and even if he hadn't seen them, he could feel moths  _ entering his throat and filling his lungs-  _

"You seem smarter though, is that why he picked  _ you ?  _ It is, isn't it? I can see your mind from here, such a damaged little thing yet burning brighter than any human mind ever before… I see Mycroft had his taste already, but in all honesty, I can't blame him, it looks absolutely delightful." the  _ thing  _ purred, amused, as she mirrored Jim's previous actions, stepping closer to the bone bars until they were the only thing separating them. "Ooooh, you haven't eaten anything during the whole week? " she frowned, pushing her face through the small spaces until she would have been breathing against the boy's skin had she possessed functioning lungs, and he wasn't sure whether she was smelling him or furrowing through his brain "No, you ate  _ chocolate,  _ how cute! "

Jim only gasped, said lack of food catching him back at the worst moment.

"Oh, you're already leaving me? Humans are such weak creatures… But well, sweet dream darling ~ "

His vision darkened and he was only half conscious that his knees had crumpled under his weight and that he was now leaning heavily leaning against the bars…

The last things his mind registered were two hands harshly gripping his face as soft lips and melted flesh met his own mouth, sharp, too sharp, teeth harshly biting his tongue. 

"Yes, absolutely sinful. " A purr, low and dangerous, claws like nails sinking into his cheeks. 

Someone screamed his name, or maybe two persons, he couldn't be sure, but by the time the voices reached his ears, he had already fallen into the welcoming darkness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now y'all know.

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the end of the first chapter!  
> Do y'all like it?  
> If so (or if not I guess?), leave a comment! (I mean, if you have a few minutes to spare it would really make my day haha)


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